quote:

The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention
BY GLENN GREENWALD
(updated below)

Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months -- and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait -- under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture. Interviews with several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning's detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard) who confirmed much of what they conveyed, establishes that the accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries.

Since his arrest in May, Manning has been a model detainee, without any episodes of violence or disciplinary problems. He nonetheless was declared from the start to be a "Maximum Custody Detainee," the highest and most repressive level of military detention, which then became the basis for the series of inhumane measures imposed on him.

From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement. For 23 out of 24 hours every day -- for seven straight months and counting -- he sits completely alone in his cell. Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he's barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions. For reasons that appear completely punitive, he's being denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed (he is not and never has been on suicide watch). For the one hour per day when he is freed from this isolation, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs. Lt. Villiard protested that the conditions are not "like jail movies where someone gets thrown into the hole," but confirmed that he is in solitary confinement, entirely alone in his cell except for the one hour per day he is taken out.

In sum, Manning has been subjected for many months without pause to inhumane, personality-erasing, soul-destroying, insanity-inducing conditions of isolation similar to those perfected at America's Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado: all without so much as having been convicted of anything. And as is true of many prisoners subjected to warped treatment of this sort, the brig's medical personnel now administer regular doses of anti-depressants to Manning to prevent his brain from snapping from the effects of this isolation.

Just by itself, the type of prolonged solitary confinement to which Manning has been subjected for many months is widely viewed around the world as highly injurious, inhumane, punitive, and arguably even a form of torture. In his widely praised March, 2009 New Yorker article -- entitled "Is Long-Term Solitary Confinement Torture?" -- the surgeon and journalist Atul Gawande assembled expert opinion and personal anecdotes to demonstrate that, as he put it, "all human beings experience isolation as torture." By itself, prolonged solitary confinement routinely destroys a person’s mind and drives them into insanity. A March, 2010 article in The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law explains that "solitary confinement is recognized as difficult to withstand; indeed, psychological stressors such as isolation can be as clinically distressing as physical torture."

For that reason, many Western nations -- and even some non-Western nations notorious for human rights abuses -- refuse to employ prolonged solitary confinement except in the most extreme cases of prisoner violence. "It’s an awful thing, solitary," John McCain wrote of his experience in isolated confinement in Vietnam. “It crushes your spirit." As Gawande documented: "A U.S. military study of almost a hundred and fifty naval aviators returned from imprisonment in Vietnam . . . reported that they found social isolation to be as torturous and agonizing as any physical abuse they suffered." Gawande explained that America’s application of this form of torture to its own citizens is what spawned the torture regime which President Obama vowed to end:

This past year, both the Republican and the Democratic Presidential candidates came out firmly for banning torture and closing the facility in Guantánamo Bay, where hundreds of prisoners have been held in years-long isolation. Neither Barack Obama nor John McCain, however, addressed the question of whether prolonged solitary confinement is torture. . . .

This is the dark side of American exceptionalism. . . . Our willingness to discard these standards for American prisoners made it easy to discard the Geneva Conventions prohibiting similar treatment of foreign prisoners of war, to the detriment of America’s moral stature in the world. In much the same way that a previous generation of Americans countenanced legalized segregation, ours has countenanced legalized torture. And there is no clearer manifestation of this than our routine use of solitary confinement . . . .

It's one thing to impose such punitive, barbaric measures on convicts who have proven to be violent when around other prisoners; at the Supermax in Florence, inmates convicted of the most heinous crimes and who pose a threat to prison order and the safety of others are subjected to worse treatment than what Manning experiences. But it's another thing entirely to impose such conditions on individuals, like Manning, who have been convicted of nothing and have never demonstrated an iota of physical threat or disorder.

In 2006, a bipartisan National Commission on America's Prisons was created and it called for the elimination of prolonged solitary confinement. Its Report documented that conditions whereby "prisoners end up locked in their cells 23 hours a day, every day. . . is so severe that people end up completely isolated, living in what can only be described as torturous conditions." The Report documented numerous psychiatric studies of individuals held in prolonged isolation which demonstrate "a constellation of symptoms that includes overwhelming anxiety, confusion and hallucination, and sudden violent and self-destructive outbursts." The above-referenced article from the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law states: "Psychological effects can include anxiety, depression, anger, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, and psychosis."

When one exacerbates the harms of prolonged isolation with the other deprivations to which Manning is being subjected, long-term psychiatric and even physical impairment is likely. Gawande documents that "EEG studies going back to the nineteen-sixties have shown diffuse slowing of brain waves in prisoners after a week or more of solitary confinement." Medical tests conducted in 1992 on Yugoslavian prisoners subjected to an average of six months of isolation -- roughly the amount to which Manning has now been subjected -- "revealed brain abnormalities months afterward; the most severe were found in prisoners who had endured either head trauma sufficient to render them unconscious or, yes, solitary confinement. Without sustained social interaction, the human brain may become as impaired as one that has incurred a traumatic injury." Gawande's article is filled with horrifying stories of individuals subjected to isolation similar to or even less enduring than Manning's who have succumbed to extreme long-term psychological breakdown.

Manning is barred from communicating with any reporters, even indirectly, so nothing he has said can be quoted here. But David House, a 23-year-old MIT researcher who befriended Manning after his detention (and then had his laptops, camera and cellphone seized by Homeland Security when entering the U.S.) is one of the few people to have visited Manning several times at Quantico. He describes palpable changes in Manning's physical appearance and behavior just over the course of the several months that he's been visiting him. Like most individuals held in severe isolation, Manning sleeps much of the day, is particularly frustrated by the petty, vindictive denial of a pillow or sheets, and suffers from less and less outdoor time as part of his one-hour daily removal from his cage.

This is why the conditions under which Manning is being detained were once recognized in the U.S. -- and are still recognized in many Western nations -- as not only cruel and inhumane, but torture. More than a century ago, U.S. courts understood that solitary confinement was a barbaric punishment that severely harmed the mental and physical health of those subjected to it. The Supreme Court's 1890 decision in In re Medley noted that as a result of solitary confinement as practiced in the early days of the United States, many "prisoners fell, after even a short confinement, into a semi-fatuous condition . . . and others became violently insane; others still, committed suicide; while those who stood the ordeal better . . . [often] did not recover sufficient mental activity to be of any subsequent service to the community." And in its 1940 decision in Chambers v. Florida, the Court characterized prolonged solitary confinement as "torture" and compared it to "[t]he rack, the thumbscrew, [and] the wheel."

The inhumane treatment of Manning may have international implications as well. There are multiple proceedings now pending in the European Union Human Rights Court, brought by "War on Terror" detainees contesting their extradition to the U.S. on the ground that the conditions under which they likely will be held -- particularly prolonged solitary confinement -- violate the European Convention on Human Rights, which (along with the Convention Against Torture) bars EU states from extraditing anyone to any nation where there is a real risk of inhumane and degrading treatment. The European Court of Human Rights has in the past found detention conditions violative of those rights (in Bulgaria) where "the [detainee] spent 23 hours a day alone in his cell; had limited interaction with other prisoners; and was only allowed two visits per month." From the Journal article referenced above:

International treaty bodies and human rights experts, including the Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture, and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, have concluded that solitary confinement may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. They have specifically criticized supermax confinement in the United States because of the mental suffering it inflicts.

Subjecting a detainee like Manning to this level of prolonged cruel and inhumane detention can thus jeopardize the ability of the U.S. to secure extradition for other prisoners, as these conditions are viewed in much of the civilized world as barbaric. Moreover, because Manning holds dual American and U.K. citizenship (his mother is British), it is possible for British agencies and human rights organizations to assert his consular rights against these oppressive conditions. At least some preliminary efforts are underway in Britain to explore that mechanism as a means of securing more humane treatment for Manning. Whatever else is true, all of this illustrates what a profound departure from international norms is the treatment to which the U.S. Government is subjecting him.

* * * * *

The plight of Manning has largely been overshadowed by the intense media fixation on WikiLeaks, so it's worth underscoring what it is that he's accused of doing and what he said in his own reputed words about these acts. If one believes the authenticity of the highly edited chat logs of Manning's online conversations with Adrian Lamo that have been released by Wired (that magazine inexcusably continues to conceal large portions of those logs), Manning clearly believed that he was a whistle-blower acting with the noblest of motives, and probably was exactly that. If, for instance, he really is the leaker of the Apache helicopter attack video -- a video which sparked very rare and much-needed realization about the visceral truth of what American wars actually entail -- as well as the war and diplomatic cables revealing substantial government deceit, brutality, illegality and corruption, then he's quite similar to Daniel Ellsberg. Indeed, Ellsberg himself said the very same thing about Manning in June on Democracy Now in explaining why he considers the Army Private to be a "hero":

The fact is that what Lamo reports Manning is saying has a very familiar and persuasive ring to me. He reports Manning as having said that what he had read and what he was passing on were horrible -- evidence of horrible machinations by the US backdoor dealings throughout the Middle East and, in many cases, as he put it, almost crimes. And let me guess that -- he’s not a lawyer, but I'll guess that what looked to him like crimes are crimes, that he was putting out. We know that he put out, or at least it's very plausible that he put out, the videos that he claimed to Lamo. And that's enough to go on to get them interested in pursuing both him and the other.

And so, what it comes down, to me, is -- and I say throwing caution to the winds here -- is that what I've heard so far of Assange and Manning -- and I haven't met either of them -- is that they are two new heroes of mine.

To see why that's so, just recall some of what Manning purportedly said about why he chose to leak, at least as reflected in the edited chat logs published by Wired:

Lamo: what's your endgame plan, then?. . .

Manning: well, it was forwarded to [WikiLeaks] - and god knows what happens now - hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms - if not, than [sic] we're doomed - as a species - i will officially give up on the society we have if nothing happens - the reaction to the video gave me immense hope; CNN's iReport was overwhelmed; Twitter exploded - people who saw, knew there was something wrong . . . Washington Post sat on the video… David Finkel acquired a copy while embedded out here. . . . - i want people to see the truth… regardless of who they are… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.

if i knew then, what i knew now - kind of thing, or maybe im just young, naive, and stupid . . . im hoping for the former - it cant be the latter - because if it is… were [censored] screwed (as a society) - and i dont want to believe that we’re screwed.

Manning described the incident which first made him seriously question the U.S. Government: when he was instructed to work on the case of Iraqi "insurgents" who had been detained for distributing so-called "insurgent" literature which, when Manning had it translated, turned out to be nothing more than "a scholarly critique against PM Maliki":

i had an interpreter read it for me… and when i found out that it was a benign political critique titled "Where did the money go?" and following the corruption trail within the PM’s cabinet… i immediately took that information and *ran* to the officer to explain what was going on… he didn’t want to hear any of it… he told me to shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding *MORE* detainees…

i had always questioned the things worked, and investigated to find the truth… but that was a point where i was a *part* of something… i was actively involved in something that i was completely against…

And Manning explained why he never considered the thought of selling this classified information to a foreign nation for substantial profit or even just secretly transmitting it to foreign powers, as he easily could have done:

Manning: i mean what if i were someone more malicious- i could've sold to russia or china, and made bank?

Lamo: why didn’t you?

Manning: because it's public data

Lamo: i mean, the cables

Manning: it belongs in the public domain -information should be free - it belongs in the public domain - because another state would just take advantage of the information… try and get some edge - if its out in the open… it should be a public good.

That's a whistleblower in the purest and most noble form: discovering government secrets of criminal and corrupt acts and then publicizing them to the world not for profit, not to give other nations an edge, but to trigger "worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms." Given how much Manning has been demonized -- at the same time that he's been rendered silent by the ban on his communication with any media -- it's worthwhile to keep all of that in mind.

But ultimately, what one thinks of Manning's alleged acts is irrelevant to the issue here. The U.S. ought at least to abide by minimal standards of humane treatment in how it detains him. That's true for every prisoner, at all times. But departures from such standards are particularly egregious where, as here, the detainee has merely been accused, but never convicted, of wrongdoing. These inhumane conditions make a mockery of Barack Obama's repeated pledge to end detainee abuse and torture, as prolonged isolation -- exacerbated by these other deprivations -- is at least as damaging, as violative of international legal standards, and almost as reviled around the world, as the waterboard, hypothermia and other Bush-era tactics that caused so much controversy.

What all of this achieves is clear. Having it known that the U.S. could and would disappear people at will to "black sites," assassinate them with unseen drones, imprison them for years without a shred of due process even while knowing they were innocent, torture them mercilessly, and in general acts as a lawless and rogue imperial power created a climate of severe intimidation and fear. Who would want to challenge the U.S. Government in any way -- even in legitimate ways -- knowing that it could and would engage in such lawless, violent conduct without any restraints or repercussions?

That is plainly what is going on here. Anyone remotely affiliated with WikiLeaks, including American citizens (and plenty of other government critics), has their property seized and communications stored at the border without so much as a warrant. Julian Assange -- despite never having been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime -- has now spent more than a week in solitary confinement with severe restrictions under what his lawyer calls "Dickensian conditions." But Bradley Manning has suffered much worse, and not for a week, but for seven months, with no end in sight. If you became aware of secret information revealing serious wrongdoing, deceit and/or criminality on the part of the U.S. Government, would you -- knowing that you could and likely would be imprisoned under these kinds of repressive, torturous conditions for months on end without so much as a trial: just locked away by yourself 23 hours a day without recourse -- be willing to expose it? That's the climate of fear and intimidation which these inhumane detention conditions are intended to create.

* * * * *

UPDATE: I was contacted by Lt. Villiard, who claims there is one factual inaccuracy in what I wrote: specifically, he claims that Manning is not restricted from accessing news or current events during the proscribed time he is permitted to watch television. That is squarely inconsistent with reports from those with first-hand knowledge of Manning's detention, but it's a fairly minor dispute in the scheme of things.

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Op donderdag 16 december 2010 05:18 schreef Hathor het volgende:
Ach, in menig ander land was ie allang opgeruimd voor zijn verraad, maar daar hoor je ook niemand over.

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Op donderdag 16 december 2010 05:18 schreef Hathor het volgende:
Ach, in menig ander land was ie allang opgeruimd voor zijn verraad, maar daar hoor je ook niemand over.

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Op donderdag 16 december 2010 05:18 schreef Hathor het volgende:
Ach, in menig ander land was ie allang opgeruimd voor zijn verraad, maar daar hoor je ook niemand over.

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Op donderdag 16 december 2010 08:16 schreef ShaoliN het volgende:

[..]

Die landen die je anders zo veroordeelt vanwege hun barbaarse beleid?
Tijd om de regering van Amerika om te werpen?

quote:

PFC Manning is currently being held in maximum custody. Since arriving at the Quantico Confinement Facility in July of 2010, he has been held under Prevention of Injury (POI) watch.

His cell is approximately six feet wide and twelve feet in length.

The cell has a bed, a drinking fountain, and a toilet.

The guards at the confinement facility are professional. At no time have they tried to bully, harass, or embarrass PFC Manning. Given the nature of their job, however, they do not engage in conversation with PFC Manning.

At 5:00 a.m. he is woken up (on weekends, he is allowed to sleep until 7:00 a.m.). Under the rules for the confinement facility, he is not allowed to sleep at anytime between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. If he attempts to sleep during those hours, he will be made to sit up or stand by the guards.

He is allowed to watch television during the day. The television stations are limited to the basic local stations. His access to the television ranges from 1 to 3 hours on weekdays to 3 to 6 hours on weekends.

He cannot see other inmates from his cell. He can occasionally hear other inmates talk. Due to being a pretrial confinement facility, inmates rarely stay at the facility for any length of time. Currently, there are no other inmates near his cell.

From 7:00 p.m. to 9:20 p.m., he is given correspondence time. He is given access to a pen and paper. He is allowed to write letters to family, friends, and his attorneys.

Each night, during his correspondence time, he is allowed to take a 15 to 20 minute shower.

On weekends and holidays, he is allowed to have approved visitors see him from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.

He is allowed to receive letters from those on his approved list and from his legal counsel. If he receives a letter from someone not on his approved list, he must sign a rejection form. The letter is then either returned to the sender or destroyed.

He is allowed to have any combination of up to 15 books or magazines. He must request the book or magazine by name. Once the book or magazine has been reviewed by the literary board at the confinement facility, and approved, he is allowed to have someone on his approved list send it to him. The person sending the book or magazine to him must do so through a publisher or an approved distributor such as Amazon. They are not allowed to mail the book or magazine directly to PFC Manning.

Due to being held on Prevention of Injury (POI) watch:

PFC Manning is held in his cell for approximately 23 hours a day.

The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner. At night, if the guards cannot see PFC Manning clearly, because he has a blanket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure he is okay.

He receives each of his meals in his cell.

He is not allowed to have a pillow or sheets. However, he is given access to two blankets and has recently been given a new mattress that has a built-in pillow.

He is not allowed to have any personal items in his cell.

He is only allowed to have one book or one magazine at any given time to read in his cell. The book or magazine is taken away from him at the end of the day before he goes to sleep.

He is prevented from exercising in his cell. If he attempts to do push-ups, sit-ups, or any other form of exercise he will be forced to stop.

He does receive one hour of “exercise” outside of his cell daily. He is taken to an empty room and only allowed to walk. PFC Manning normally just walks figure eights in the room for the entire hour. If he indicates that he no long feels like walking, he is immediately returned to his cell.

When PFC Manning goes to sleep, he is required to strip down to his boxer shorts and surrender his clothing to the guards. His clothing is returned to him the next morning.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 14:20 schreef __Saviour__ het volgende:
Zo, lekker streng regime wel.

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He is only allowed to have one book or one magazine at any given time to read in his cell. The book or magazine is taken away from him at the end of the day before he goes to sleep.

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Op donderdag 16 december 2010 03:08 schreef Hamilcar het volgende:

[..]

De presidents-kandidaten hadden hun mond vol over hoe verschrikkelijk martelen wel niet is en dat het per direct verboden zou moeten worden, maar blijkbaar is het wel okay als het om staatverraders gaat. Staat, omdat hij z'n land trouw blijft door de misdaden van de staat te openbaren.

Hopelijk gaat de EU snel druk zetten op de VS om deze praktijken te stoppen. Desnoods moet er een VN afgezant zicht houden op zijn situatie.

bron: http://www.salon.com/news(...)d/2010/12/14/manning

quote:

In democratie 2.0 is martelen helemaal niet meer verschrikkelijk, maar een noodzakelijk kwaad om terrorisme te bestrijden. Ik hoor de laatste tijd helemaal niemand meer roepen dat martelen zo verschrikkelijk is, of het moet het martelen door onze vijanden zijn, wat natuurlijk een onverminderde verschrikking is.

quote:

Decision Points, by George W. Bush
Critique of Practical Reason, by Immanuel Kant
Critique of Pure Reason, by Immanuel Kant
Propaganda by Edward Bernayse
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
A Peoples History of the United States, by Howard Zinn
The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
The Good Soldiers, by David Finkel
On War by Gen. Carl von Clausewitz

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 14:47 schreef Chooselife het volgende:
Ah, en de mond vol over Iran!

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Accused of spying

On 27 December last year a friend told him on the Ashoura religious celebrations in the north of Tehran.
- Everybody knew that there was unrest in Tehran at the time, so we did what we used and found an alternative route to avoid unrest.

On the way to where the bus was stopped by three female protesters to flee. The bus driver dropped them in, closed the door and was about to run when the whole windshield was shattered. Representatives from the Basij militia, with knives, batons and chains came on the bus. They first attacked the driver, so they went away at random passengers.

“Lars” hooked together behind the seat. He heard women screaming, and from where he had crouched down, he could see blood on the floor.

Then Basij eye on “Lars”.
- Where are you from, “shouted one.
“Lars replied he was Norwegian and was pulled out of the bus and forced up to a wall. The accusations against hail him. He was a spy, western journalist, a reporter for CNN and the BBC.
- They spoke English to me because they thought I did not understand farsi. I was so scared that I could not answer. I had already seen what they had done to other passengers.

The sound of knees that no longer exists
He had a hood over his head, was placed between two men on a motorcycle and taken to what he believes may have been a temporary outdoor base. A chaotic view, met him when they took off his cap. It was nearly a hundred people. Protesters, Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia on all sides.

Three persons were taken prisoner, were followed up to me. They were laid down in front of me. One of the militias held my face firmly and said “here you should see how we treat the enemies of Allah”, and then stretching the legs out and smashed kneecaps on one of the demonstrators with batons. Another of them, a woman was stabbed in the stomach drawn, he says.

Similar abuse took place in several places around him. A woman was given a baton run into his mouth.
A minibus full of people were burned and those who tried to escape were shot.

As a young boy among protesters shouted Allah Akbar she drove Basij militia against him with a big car. He stood against a wall and was crushed between the car and the wall.
- They did not stop. They just continued to run against the wall while the wheels spun.
When the car finally backed the boy fell on the ground. “Lars” also saw a woman who got his head run over by a car.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 15:02 schreef AryaMehr het volgende:

[..]

Ja kom, laten we Iran even vergelijken met de VS. Een student uit Noorwegen die tijdens de protesten in Iran per ongeluk op de verkeerde plek was en gearresteerd werd. Even kijken hoe niet-veroordeelde gevangenen daar werden behandeld:

[..]

Hele verhaal hier:

http://freedomessenger.com/?p=19981

Met je idiote vergelijkingen.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 15:34 schreef TheoddDutchGuy het volgende:

[..]

Wel jammer dat het hele stuk vol met vertaal fouten zit en daarom er nogal verzonnen uitziet.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 15:34 schreef TheoddDutchGuy het volgende:

[..]

Wel jammer dat het hele stuk vol met vertaal fouten zit en daarom er nogal verzonnen uitziet.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 15:42 schreef Opa2012 het volgende:

[..]

Kun jij die bewijs stelling onderbouwen of zwam je maar wat, als een debiel, in de ruimte?

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The inhumane treatment of Manning may have international implications as well. There are multiple proceedings now pending in the European Union Human Rights Court, brought by "War on Terror" detainees contesting their extradition to the U.S. on the ground that the conditions under which they likely will be held -- particularly prolonged solitary confinement -- violate the European Convention on Human Rights, which (along with the Convention Against Torture) bars EU states from extraditing anyone to any nation where there is a real risk of inhumane and degrading treatment.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 16:52 schreef Nielsch het volgende:
Tsja, als het nu nog niet duidelijk is dat Barack Obama gewoon een lying piece of shit is, weet ik het ook niet meer.

Onderstaande quote is wel weer positief voor Assange, als de VS om zijn uitlevering vraagt:

[..]

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 14:24 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Voor iemand die geen gevaar is voor anderen en zichzelf -nog niet, !- en niet veroordeeld is of schuldig bevonden zeker wel iets te gortig. Ze maken deze jongen knettergek, het is geestelijke mishandeling, zoals ze die Padilla ook knettergek hebben gemaakt door hem als een politieke Sovjet-gevangene te behandelen.

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The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner. At night, if the guards cannot see PFC Manning clearly, because he has a blanket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure he is okay.

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Heeft manning zelf uitgelokt.

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Hopelijk gaat de EU snel druk zetten op de VS

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 18:30 schreef Royyy het volgende:
Verraad en spionage tijdens oorlogstijd... kan van geluk spreken dat ze hem niet meteen geëxecuteerd hebben.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 18:45 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
verraad zie ik nog wel.
spionage dan weer niet.

maar ok, hoogverraad dus een beetje. Ja vroeger zou meteen z'n hoofd eraf zijn gegaan.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 18:46 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Europa weet niet hoe snel ze hun principes en wetten aan de kant moeten zetten om Assange onschadelijk te maken, maar ze gaan Manning helpen?

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 19:36 schreef LXIV het volgende:

[..]

Het enige principe dat de EU heeft is het uitoefenen van macht. En alles wat die uitoefening in de weg zit moet vernietigd worden.

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 20:19 schreef Opa2012 het volgende:

[..]

En dat is op dit ogenblik Amerika (die een Drittes Reich in de weg staat).

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 13:47 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Wat het zo'n beetje inhoudt, hieronder. Het is walgelijk en om woedend van te worden. Dit zijn Sovjet-praktijken en dit is onmenselijk. Pure marteling en terreur.

[..]

http://www.armycourtmarti(...)bradley-manning.html

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 20:20 schreef Pietverdriet het volgende:

[..]

Jij hebt echt geen idee of je bent sarcastisch

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 15:42 schreef AryaMehr het volgende:

[..]

Het artikel is vertaald vanuit het Noorweegs, vandaar. Origineel staat in de Noorweegse krant VG.

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Op maandag 20 december 2010 11:41 schreef Sosha het volgende:

[..]

Noorweegs?

SPOILER: Voor

SPOILER: Na

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Op zondag 19 december 2010 13:47 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Wat het zo'n beetje inhoudt, hieronder. Het is walgelijk en om woedend van te worden. Dit zijn Sovjet-praktijken en dit is onmenselijk. Pure marteling en terreur.

[..]

http://www.armycourtmarti(...)bradley-manning.html

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Op dinsdag 21 december 2010 22:39 schreef VeX- het volgende:
Ik betwijfel of hij daadwerkelijk gemarteld wordt, maar deze foto laat zien dat hij er fysiek erg op achteruit is gegaan.

SPOILER: Voor

[ afbeelding ]

SPOILER: Na

[ afbeelding ]

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Op woensdag 22 december 2010 00:07 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Marteling kan ook psychologisch en kijkende naar de "na" foto ben ik er haast zeker van dat dat gebeurt. Fysieke marteling sluit ik ook helemaal niet uit, zou me juist verbazen wanneer dat niet gebeurt.

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 december 2010 22:39 schreef VeX- het volgende:
Ik betwijfel of hij daadwerkelijk gemarteld wordt, maar deze foto laat zien dat hij er fysiek erg op achteruit is gegaan.

SPOILER: Voor

[ afbeelding ]

SPOILER: Na

[ afbeelding ]

quote:

Op zondag 19 december 2010 20:32 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Ik heb een idee en ik ben niet sarcastisch.

quote:

Op zondag 19 december 2010 18:47 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

De laatste tijd lijkt het wel overal en altijd oorlog te zijn.

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 december 2010 22:39 schreef VeX- het volgende:
Ik betwijfel of hij daadwerkelijk gemarteld wordt, maar deze foto laat zien dat hij er fysiek erg op achteruit is gegaan.

SPOILER: Voor

[ afbeelding ]

SPOILER: Na

[ afbeelding ]

quote:

Op woensdag 22 december 2010 14:59 schreef Manifesto het volgende:
Dat stuk stront heeft het leven van een heleboel mensen in gevaar gebracht d.mv. lekken van operationele informatie. Die informatie bevat namen en locaties van burgers die coalitie helpen.
Burgers die hun best doen onder hele moeilijke omstandigheden onder continue dreiging van "opstandelingen" en terroristen.

Een zeer domme man die ongetwijfeld niet krijgt wat hij verdient voor zijn daden.
Tuurlijk word hij vreselijk gemarteld want we geloven alles wat mensen claimen wat in ons anti amerikaans straatje past.

Ondertussen worden er dagelijks mensen echt gemarteld waar geen haan naar kraait.

quote:

It is neither. WikiLeaks has a four-year publishing history. During that time we have changed whole governments, but not a single person, as far as anyone is aware, has been harmed. But the US, with Australian government connivance, has killed thousands in the past few months alone.

quote:

Op donderdag 16 december 2010 05:18 schreef Hathor het volgende:
Ach, in menig ander land was ie allang opgeruimd voor zijn verraad, maar daar hoor je ook niemand over.

quote:

Op donderdag 16 december 2010 05:18 schreef Hathor het volgende:
Ach, in menig ander land was ie allang opgeruimd voor zijn verraad, maar daar hoor je ook niemand over.

quote:

"It is neither. WikiLeaks has a four-year publishing history. During that time we have changed whole governments, but not a single person, as far as anyone is aware, has been harmed. But the US, with Australian government connivance, has killed thousands in the past few months alone."

De enige partij hier die nodeloos mensenlevens in gevaar brengt is de amerikaanse overheid met z'n illegale oorlogen en acties.

En dan je aanname dat geen haan kraait naar het martelen van anderen, wat een complete bullshit kraam je daar uit zeg

quote:

Dan nemen ze liever meteen wraak (eq Afghanistan) dan zorgvuldig de vijand uit te schakelen (wat ze wel proberen in Pakistan).

quote:

Op woensdag 22 december 2010 17:52 schreef SlimShady het volgende:
De film "Taxi to the Dark Side" over krijgsgevangenen in Afghanistan en Guantanamo, heeft hier veel mee te maken. Na 9/11 is Amerika gek geworden en zijn ze tot het niveau van de vijand gezakt. Door laks te zijn met de behandeling van gevangenen en op voorhand checken of het echt een terrorist is.
Dan nemen ze liever meteen wraak (eq Afghanistan) dan zorgvuldig de vijand uit te schakelen (wat ze wel proberen in Pakistan).

quote:

Amerikanen kan je niet meer vertrouwen. Als zij ooit eerlijkheid uitstraalden was dat volgens mij tijdens en direct na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. En daarop hebben ze zelfs ingespeeld om de wereld wijs te maken dat zij zelf weten wat het beste is voor de wereld, en op die manier kregen ze de taken van wereld-politieagent toegekend.

quote:

Het is nu inmiddels aardig verder, en die status hebben ze verspeeld door allerlei gruwelijke oorlogshandelingen te plegen (met als beginpunt Vietnam), vreselijk om te gaan met hun eigen gedetineerden, en een rampzalige buitenlandse politiek uit te voeren die andere landen in het verkeerde keelgat schiet.

Misschien kan Rusland, die overigens ook een beruchte verleden heeft, de volgende supermacht worden die de hele wereld kan vertrouwen? Ik weet het niet, maar je moet wel, iig Rusland ook een tweede kans geven, als je dat de Amerikanen wilt gunnen.

quote:

Op woensdag 22 december 2010 18:52 schreef Royyy het volgende:

[..]

En jij gelooft dat je andere regeringen beter kunt vertrouwen?
Dat ze zon vooraanstaande positie hebben weten te verwerven.. tja als niemand anders het doet, je de mogelijkheden hebt en niemand houdt je tegen, dan zou je als land zijnde gewoon dom zijn om het niet te doen.

[..]

Tja wereld-politieagent is natuurlijk een ondankbare taak.. de VS durft zich tenminste nog actief in te zetten, andere landen wijzen alleen maar met het vingertje en zeggen foei foei, maar als het er op aankomt doen ze niks.

quote:

Op zondag 19 december 2010 14:27 schreef LXIV het volgende:

[..]

In democratie 2.0 is martelen helemaal niet meer verschrikkelijk, maar een noodzakelijk kwaad om terrorisme te bestrijden. Ik hoor de laatste tijd helemaal niemand meer roepen dat martelen zo verschrikkelijk is, of het moet het martelen door onze vijanden zijn, wat natuurlijk een onverminderde verschrikking is.

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Op woensdag 22 december 2010 19:55 schreef Vengerr het volgende:

[..]

Inmiddels is iedere tegenstander/criticus van het regime tot terrorist gebombardeerd door zowel de staat als de burgers.

Als ik trouwens tegenwoordig Amerikanen onderling zie discussiëren gaan mijn oren klapperen.
Dit gaat vooral op met betrekking tot het onderwerp foreign policy.
Radicaal, ultra nationalistisch, wreed of zelfs sadistisch, wereldvreemd en hypocriet.

quote:

Op woensdag 22 december 2010 20:26 schreef vergezocht het volgende:
Maak je niet druk, over een 10 tal jaar zijn ze niet meer in staat de rest van de wereld hun vreemde regels op te leggen en de baas te gaan spelen omdat tegen die tijd is hun economie volledig uiteengeklapt.

quote:

Op woensdag 22 december 2010 18:52 schreef Royyy het volgende:
Tja wereld-politieagent is natuurlijk een ondankbare taak.. de VS durft zich tenminste nog actief in te zetten, andere landen wijzen alleen maar met het vingertje en zeggen foei foei, maar als het er op aankomt doen ze niks.

quote:

Op woensdag 22 december 2010 17:52 schreef SlimShady het volgende:
De film "Taxi to the Dark Side" over krijgsgevangenen in Afghanistan en Guantanamo, heeft hier veel mee te maken. Na 9/11 is Amerika gek geworden en zijn ze tot het niveau van de vijand gezakt. Door laks te zijn met de behandeling van gevangenen en op voorhand checken of het echt een terrorist is.
Dan nemen ze liever meteen wraak (eq Afghanistan) dan zorgvuldig de vijand uit te schakelen (wat ze wel proberen in Pakistan).

quote:

Op woensdag 22 december 2010 13:25 schreef Louis22 het volgende:

[..]

Is dit echt??? Zijn die twee dezelfde persoon???

quote:

Al meer dan een half jaar zit de Amerikaanse soldaat Bradley Manning in eenzame opsluiting. Hij zit gevangen voor het lekken van documenten naar WikiLeaks.

Sympathisanten van Manning hebben bij de VN een klacht ingediend over zijn behandeling. Onder welke omstandigheden zit hij vast?

Mei 2010. De Amerikaanse soldaat Bradley Manning wordt gearresteerd op de legerbasis Hammer in Irak. Hij werkt dan als inlichtingenanalist bij het Amerikaanse leger en wordt opgepakt voor het lekken van een video van een Amerikaanse helikopteraanval in Bagdad. Behalve de videobeelden zou Manning ook nog honderdduizenden diplomatieke telegrammen aan WikiLeaks gelekt hebben.

In juli wordt Manning overgebracht naar de gevangenis van Qantico in Virginia. Sindsdien zit hij daar 23 uur per dag in zijn cel.
'Erbarmelijke omstandigheden'

Volgens sympathisanten van Manning zit hij in de gevangenis onder 'erbarmelijke' en 'onmenselijke' omstandigheden. In de Britse krant The Guardian verklaart een vriend van Manning, die hem regelmatig bezoekt, hoe de Amerikaanse soldaat het in zijn cel moet stellen zonder een kussen en dekens. Ook zou hij geen gelegenheid krijgen om te sporten en mag hij geen nieuwsuitzendingen op televisie kijken.

Sympathisanten van Manning krijgen steun van het internetmagazine Salon. Dat stelt de behandeling van Manning zelfs gelijk aan marteling. Het magazine sprak met verschillende mensen die goed bekend zijn met het type omstandigheden waaronder Manning wordt vastgehouden, onder wie een woordvoerder van de gevangenis.

Ondanks dat Manning nog niet is veroordeeld, zit hij geïsoleerd en mag hij maar één uur per dag zijn cel verlaten. Verder mag hij geen enkel contact met de buitenwereld hebben. In veel landen zou dit marteling worden genoemd. Aldus Salon.
Doorsnee dag van Manning

Mannings belangrijkste advocaat, David Coombs, ziet dat anders. Volgens hem, is er inderdaad sprake van een 'streng' en 'karig' regime, maar wordt Manning niet anders behandeld dan ieder ander.

Op zijn website beschrijft Coombs een 'doorsnee dag' van de Amerikaanse soldaat. Manning verblijft in een cel van van 1.80 bij 3.60 meter. De cel heeft een bed, een kraantje en een toilet. Om vijf uur 's morgens wordt hij wakker gemaakt. Tussen vijf uur 's ochtends en acht uur 's avonds mag hij niet slapen. Als hij dat wel doet, dwingen de bewakers hem om te zitten of te staan. Gedurende de dag mag Manning een tot drie uur televisie kijken, 'naar de standaard lokale tv-stations'. Aldus zijn advocaat. Volgens Coombs heeft Manning geen contact met andere gevangenen. Soms hoort hij wel andere gevangenen praten, maar op dit moment zitten er geen andere gevangenen in de buurt van zijn cel.
'Professioneel'

Volgens de advocaat gedragen de bewakers van Manning zich 'professioneel'. Ze spreken niet met hem, maar hebben hem ook nooit getreiterd of lastiggevallen. Tussen zeven en half tien 's avonds mag Manning brieven schrijven aan zijn familie of aan zijn advocaten. In diezelfde tijd heeft hij ook de mogelijkheid om een kwartier te douchen. Manning mag vijftien boeken of tijdschriften in zijn bezit hebben, die vooraf worden goedgekeurd door een commissie. In het weekend en in de vakanties mag hij drie uur per dag bezoek ontvangen.
Verenigde Naties

Streng doch rechtvaardig of marteling? Dat gaan de Verenigde Naties de komende maanden uitzoeken. Voorlopig zit Manning in ieder geval nog wel even vast. Het is nog niet zeker wanneer hij voorkomt, waarschijnlijk in het voorjaar.

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Op donderdag 23 december 2010 18:17 schreef __Saviour__ het volgende:
Dat zal hem niks gaan helpen. De VN is een blaffende hond die niet kan bijten.

quote:

Op maandag 27 december 2010 17:05 schreef Monidique het volgende:
http://www.salon.com/news(...)/27/wired/index.html

Niet over martelen, maar over de dubieuze omstandigheden van zijn arrestatie. Het stinkt.

quote:

Op maandag 27 december 2010 18:24 schreef Opa2012 het volgende:

[..]

Ja, erg triest dat Assange Manning laat barsten en zelf lekker rondneukt en de miljoenen $ die hij met het lekken verdient in eigen zak steekt.

quote:

To follow-up on yesterday's observations about the prolonged forced nudity to which Bradley Manning has been subjected the last two days: brig officials now confirm to The New York Times that Manning will be forced to be nude every night from now on for the indefinite future -- not only when he sleeps, but also when he stands outside his cell for morning inspection along with the other brig detainees. They claim that it is being done "as a 'precautionary measure' to prevent him from injuring himself."

(...)

Let's review Manning's detention over the last nine straight months: 23-hour/day solitary confinement, barred even from exercising in his cell, one hour total outside his cell every day where he's allowed to walk around in circles in a room alone while shackled and is returned to his cell the minute he stops walking; forced to respond to guards' inquiries literally every 5 minutes, all day every day; and awakened at night each time he is curled up in the corner or otherwise outside the guards' full view. Is there anyone who doubts that these measures -- and especially this forced nudity -- is punitive and designed to further erode his mental health, physical health and will? As The Guardian reported last year, forced nudity is almost certainly a breach of the Geneva Conventions; the Conventions do not technically apply to Manning, as he is not a prisoner of war, but they certainly establish the minimal protections to which all detainees -- let alone citizens convicted of nothing -- are entitled.

quote:

Op maandag 27 december 2010 17:05 schreef Monidique het volgende:
http://www.salon.com/news(...)/27/wired/index.html

Niet over martelen, maar over de dubieuze omstandigheden van zijn arrestatie. Het stinkt.

quote:

Op zaterdag 5 maart 2011 16:22 schreef Refragmental het volgende:
Het verbaast me dat er keer op keer mensen zijn die deze marteling goedpraten

quote:

Op zaterdag 5 maart 2011 16:22 schreef Refragmental het volgende:
Het verbaast me dat er keer op keer mensen zijn die deze marteling goedpraten
Ik zou het jullie bijna toewensen!

Manning is hier niet de verrader, maar juist de enige die het juiste doet!
Daar waar honderdduizenden soldaten en officieren niks doen aan alle corruptie en machtmisbruik is Manning degene die dit kenbaar wilde maken.

Manning is de enige persoon die WEL voor zijn land opkomt door de corruptie binnen de politiek bloot te leggen, corruptie die het land ten gronde richt.

Iedereen die Manning vasthoudt en meewerkt aan zijn opsluiting zouden juist veroordeeld moeten worden voor landverraad!

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 december 2010 23:07 schreef PKRChamp het volgende:

[..]

Hetzelfde bijna als de Nederlandse isolatiecel met het verschil dat je wel mag opdrukken en iets langer mag slapen.
Voor de rest is het compleet hetzelfde

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Op zondag 6 maart 2011 11:04 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

Neen dat is het niet hij word niet anders behandeld dan andere gevangen.

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Op zondag 6 maart 2011 11:17 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Dus alle gevangenen in USA worden gemarteld.

quote:

Dus alle gevangenen in USA worden gemarteld.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 12:01 schreef delpit het volgende:

[..]

dat lijkt mij ook niet zo'n vreemde conclusie.

Feit 1: Manning zit al maanden in eenzame opsluiting
Feit 2: Manning mag geen oefeningen doen
Feit 3: Manning krijgt geen informatie of nieuws
Feit 4: Manning zit vast zonder proces of veroordeling

Een mens voor langere tijd eenzaam opsluiten zonder vorm van fysieke of mentale afleiding is een soort marteling. Nee er is geen fysieke pijn, wel fysieke aftakeling. Echter de mentale invloed van een dergelijke behandeling moet verwoestend zijn.

Ik heb geen vaststaande mening of Manning een held of een landverrader is. Waarschijnlijk een beetje van allebei. Wat ik wel zeer storend vind is dat onze belangrijkste bondgenoot het acceptabel vind een mens zonder proces voor lange tijd onder dergelijke omstandigheden vast te houden. Als dit je vrienden zijn? Wie zijn dan je vijanden?

Kortom, ja in China, Noord-Korea, Saoedi-Arabië en andere vergelijkbare landen gebeuren ook vreselijke dingen, maar we waren het er toch over eens dat dat niet (altijd) onze vrienden zijn? Van onze vrienden verwachten we toch het gedrag dat we zelf ook tentoon zouden willen spreiden? Van onze vrienden verwachten we toch dat ze zich aan de afgesproken regeltjes (mensenrechten, verschillende conventies) houden?

Dus ja ik vind het feit dat de VS dergelijke dingen doet een paar graadjes erger.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 12:01 schreef delpit het volgende:

[..]

dat lijkt mij ook niet zo'n vreemde conclusie.

Feit 1: Manning zit al maanden in eenzame opsluiting
Feit 2: Manning mag geen oefeningen doen
Feit 3: Manning krijgt geen informatie of nieuws
Feit 4: Manning zit vast zonder proces of veroordeling

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 12:35 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:


feit : Proces moet er nog komen

quote:

hij zit vast in voor arrest omdat hij staat geheimen heeft gelekt,

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Op zondag 6 maart 2011 12:36 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Hoe lang zit ie al vast?

En hoe geheim zijn gegevens die beschikbaar zijn aan 3 miljoen mensen?

quote:

je liegt!

feit : Manning heeft toegang tot lokale TV
feit : Proces moet er nog komen, hij zit vast in voor arrest omdat hij staat geheimen heeft gelekt,

en nu niet meer liegen

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 14:38 schreef delpit het volgende:

[..]

Mag het een onsje minder? Ik oordeel toch niet over de schuld of onschuld van deze man? Alleen over de omstandigheden? Waarom dan zo fel?

Het is toch een feit dat er nog geen proces is geweest. En ik kan niets vinden over een gepland proces. Is er al een procesdatum vastgesteld? Is er al een officiële aanklacht ingediend? De man zit inmiddels volgens mij al zo'n 8 maanden vast. Tijd genoeg lijkt mij.

Daarnaast lijkt zijn uurtje tv per dag zo gepland te zijn dat er geen nieuws beschikbaar is. En de beschikbaarheid van geschreven nieuws (kranten e.d.) lijkt ook op zijn minst omstreden te zijn.

Dus waar lieg ik nou precies? Wat is jouw probleem? Vind je het normaal dat mensen zonder vorm van proces acht maanden in eenzame opsluiting zitten? Een vermoeden van een misdrijf is voldoende om iemand op te sluiten? Rechters zijn helemaal niet nodig in jouw ogen?

Wordt wakker man! Juist wij (de vrije westerse wereld) moet ons aan de spelregels houden. Waar blijven we met onze morele waarden wanneer we ons zelf niet aan de door onszelf bedachte regels houden? Dus ja, maak de aanklacht officieel - voer een eerlijk proces uit - en indien schuldig bevonden, sluit de man op. Moeilijker is het niet.

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Op zondag 6 maart 2011 15:06 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Niet liegen, op het lekken van staatsgeheimen staat geen doodstraf, zoals jij beweert. Je liegt, leugenaar, hou je bij de feiten, liegende leugenaar.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 15:09 schreef Monidique het volgende:
LOL, dat gaat over het moedwillig informatie verstrekken aan "de vijand". Sinds wanneer is de New York Times "de vijand"? Sinds wanneer is Wikileaks "de vijand"?

Leugenaar.

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Op zondag 6 maart 2011 15:12 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Zoals de Amerikanen mooi zeggen: You're full of shit.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 15:17 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Weet je, ik geloof het wel, ik ga mijn tijd niet verder besteden aan deze autoritaire dwaas.

quote:

Op maandag 27 december 2010 18:24 schreef Opa2012 het volgende:

[..]

Ja, erg triest dat Assange Manning laat barsten en zelf lekker rondneukt en de miljoenen $ die hij met het lekken verdient in eigen zak steekt.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 15:12 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Zoals de Amerikanen mooi zeggen: You're full of shit.

quote:

906a. ART. 106a. ESPIONAGE

(A) (1) Any person subject to this chapter who, with intent or reason to believe that it is to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, communicates, delivers, or transmits, or attempts to communicate, deliver, or transmit, to any entity described in paragraph (2), either directly or indirectly, any thing described in paragraph (3) shall be punished as a court-martial may direct, except that if the accused is found guilty of an offense that directly concerns (A) nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large scale attack, (B) war plans, (C) communications intelligence or cryptographic information, or (D) any other major weapons system or major element of defense strategy, the accused shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court- martial may direct.

(2) An entity referred to in paragraph (1) is--

(A) a foreign government;

(B) a faction or party or military force within a foreign country, whether recognized or unrecognized by the United States

(C) a representative, officer, agent, employee, subject, or citizen of such government, faction, party, or force.

(3) A thing refereed to in paragraph (1) is a document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, note, instrument, appliance or information relating to the national defense.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 15:44 schreef Royyy het volgende:
UCMJ par. 906a.

[..]

Die hele discussie over wel of niet vijand doet helemaal niet ter zake.

'shall be punished as a court martial may direct'.
Een court martial kan beslissen de doodstraf te geven.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 16:02 schreef delpit het volgende:
Tja WallOfStars jij vindt de gang van zaken heel normaal, dat blijkt.
Nergens geef je antwoord op de vragen of 8 maanden eenzame opsluiting zonder proces (nee dat proces is nog niet begonnen, er is nog steeds slechts een vooronderzoek gaande) normaal is.

1. Ja jammer genoeg is dit de normale gang van zaken in de US militairy bij dit soort zaken in nederland heet dat voorarest

Nergens geef je antwoord op de vraag of zonder schuldig bevonden te zijn het achterhouden van echt nieuws (ja lokaal nieuws over de pompoenkweekwedstrijd dat mag), het naakt opsluiten, het onthouden van fysieke of mentale activiteiten in voorarrest normaal is.

2. JA dat is normaal, als je claimed dat je jezelf met je flip flops gaat ophangen

Nee je blijft blaten over 'leugens'! Je gaat niet op de inhoud in. En over hoe hij al dan niet de doodstraf verdient. Dat is helemaal niet het issue. Onschuldig tot anderszins bewezen, daar draait het om. Een menswaardige behandeling, op zijn minst zolang hij in voorarrest is, daar draait het om. Een rechtstaat dus met normale rechten voor verdachten en een normale behandeling.

3. jammer genoeg bewijs in zijn eigen woorden
Lamo: How long between the leak and the publication?
(02:49:18 PM) Manning: some time in february
(02:49:25 PM) Manning: it was uploaded
(02:50:04 PM) Lamo: uploaded where? how would i transmit something if i had similarly damning data
(02:51:49 PM) Manning: uhm... preferably openssl the file with aes-256... then use sftp at prearranged drop ip addresses


Ach, waarschijnlijk vond jij Abu Ghraib en vind je het Guantanamo Bay detention center ook heel normaal.

4 Abu Ghraib en Gitmo zijn andere gevallen en gaan over NON US Citizens.
En daar waren idd gevallen van torture!

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 12:04 schreef vergezocht het volgende:

[..]

Vergeet niet dat men nog altijd pushups, situps, en heen en weer lopen kan doen in zijn cel. Ook vaak in de kleinste cellen, mits men een beetje improviseert. Niet dat dat de mentale gezondheid helpt, maar wel de fysieke.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 12:35 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

je liegt!

feit : Manning heeft toegang tot lokale TV
feit : Proces moet er nog komen, hij zit vast in voor arrest omdat hij staat geheimen heeft gelekt,

en nu niet meer liegen

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:23 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Hij liegt?

Manning zit al maanden in isoleer: FEIT.
Manning zit al maanden in voorarrest en is nog nergens voor beschuldigd: FEIT
Manning mag zo goed als niks in zijn cel: FEIT

Een normale persoon zit nooit in isoleer voor een aantal maanden als voorarrest.

Hoe kun jij dit uberhaupt goedpraten? Je bent een eng gevaarlijk mannetje

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:27 schreef Refragmental het volgende:


"Het is strafbaar omdat het de wet is" gaat er bij mij simpelweg niet in.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:23 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Hij liegt?

Manning zit al maanden in isoleer: FEIT.
Manning zit al maanden in voorarrest en is nog nergens voor beschuldigd: FEIT
Manning mag zo goed als niks in zijn cel: FEIT

Een normale persoon zit nooit in isoleer voor een aantal maanden als voorarrest.

Hoe kun jij dit uberhaupt goedpraten? Je bent een eng gevaarlijk mannetje

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:37 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

1 correct!
2 incorrect, is reeds op 27 mei 2010 in staat van beschuldiging gesteld!
3. Correct! Krijg je ervan als je met zelfdoding dreigt

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:27 schreef Refragmental het volgende:
Ook mooi.

De overheid veroorzaakt een hoop shit. Diezelfde overheid verbied jou om die shit openbaar te maken, diezelfde overheid maakt dan ook nog eens allemaal wetten om zichzelf in te dekken. Diezelfde overheid gooit jou dan ook in de isoleer.

"Het is strafbaar omdat het de wet is" gaat er bij mij simpelweg niet in.
Als je je eigen wetten kunt maken (zoals de overheid dat doet) dan zal je er natuurlijk alles aan doen om iedereen die je tegenwerkt keihard te straffen op basis van wetten die je ter plaatse uit je reet trekt.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:39 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Ah! Je martelt iemand tot ie dood wil en dan straf je hem daarvoor.

Blaming the victim noemen ze dat toch?

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:41 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

hij word niet gemarteld!
en anders graag bewijs.

zover ik kan nagaan word hij niet anders behandeld dan de soldaat in de cel naast hem!

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:43 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Oh, je weet het niet dus het bestaat niet. Lekker makkelijk.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 15:16 schreef Monidique het volgende:
De rechtzaak maakt niet uit. Ja, ze kunnen zeggen dat hij "de vijand" geholpen heeft en dat dan de doodstraf wordt toegepast, dat betekent echter niet dat op het lekken van staatsgeheimen, zoals Manning zeer waarschijnlijk gedaan heeft, de doodstraf staat, zoals jij beweert. Die doodstraf staat op het lekken van informatie aan de vijand. En trouwens, dat gaan ze nooit hard maken.

Full. Of. Shit.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:44 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

Article 8 van de grond wet!

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:33 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Het is een veel gebruikte cirkelredenatie, idd.

dat was ook het probleem in Egypte. Er kon vanalles niet omdat dan de grondwet verandert moest worden en daar waren weer andere zaken voor nodig, terwijl mensen het regime weg wilden hebben. En dat regime had die wetten bedacht om hun macht te consolideren, dus die moesten natuurlijk ook weg.

Daar is veel (nutteloos) over gediscussieerd in de Egypte thread.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:04 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]



[..]

Ik had het niet over de wet, ik had het over martelpraktijken.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 18:41 schreef Opa2012 het volgende:

[..]

En jij steunt die gasten!

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:11 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

ik ook, en volgens de Amerikaanse wet mag er niet gemarteld worden. (US Citizens)

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:13 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Hahaha!
Jij bent dus in ieder geval iemand die totaal niet waar hij het over heeft.

Meer anti-overheid en anti-monarchie dan mij kun je ze niet vinden hoor.
Ik stem zelfs niet omdat ik van mening ben dat je met stemmen dit systeem alleen maar in stand houdt (en dus direct verantwoordelijk bent voor alle shit).

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:11 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

ik ook, en volgens de Amerikaanse wet mag er niet gemarteld worden. (US Citizens)

http://en.wikipedia.org/w(...)_States_Constitution

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:19 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

en dus gebeurd het niet.

Dat is toch precies wat ik zeg dombo!

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:22 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

neen, jij zegt dat het gebeurd omdat het kan,

ik zeg bewijs eerst maar eens dat het gebeurd voordat je roept dat Manning gemarteld word.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:20 schreef vergezocht het volgende:

[..]

Maar dat betekent niet dat het niet gebeurt. Als je kijkt naar hun gevangenissen, - ik raad MSNBC's Lockup, dan zie je dat bijna elk iedere gevangenis van ze grondrechten schendt.

Het is zo slecht gesteld dat er in de meeste gevallen de schuldige daders (wetshandhavers, cipiers, etc) niet eens vervolgd kunnen worden vanwege gebrek aan bewijs (dat ze zelf veroorzaken). Door gevangen dingen te ontnemen. Welke gevangene mag er met een camera rondlopen trouwens?

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:24 schreef vergezocht het volgende:

[..]

Kijk eens die bron wat ik genoemd heb. Dat programma kan je online bekijken. Als je die zender al niet op TV hebt.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:22 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

neen, jij zegt dat het gebeurd omdat het kan,

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:26 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Er word openlijk door Amerika gemarteld in Guantanamo. Waarom zouden ze het dan niet met Manning doen?

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:28 schreef vergezocht het volgende:
(een federale instelling voor spionage-verdachten)

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:28 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

US CITIZEN!!!!!

dat is voor Amerikanen alle reden die ze nodig hebben om het niet te doen.

Guantanamo waren ALLEEN BUITELANDERS!

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:33 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Sterremuur: We're not buying your shit.

Thirteen Techniques for Truth Suppression
The rules of disinformation.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:31 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Wat maakt dat nou uit? Volgens hun eigen regels mogen ze ook niet liegen en dat doen ze ook. Dus? What's your point?

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:34 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

Papier

/BNW is geen NWS

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:36 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Idd. Misschien moet je daar je leugens posten.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:29 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

Federale instellingen voor spionage verdachte bestaan niet!
Waar Manning zit is het vele malen beter. Dan een normale jail

Hier zit Manning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Brig,_Quantico

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:37 schreef vergezocht het volgende:

[..]

Dat weet je niet. Jij speculeert en (hoopt ?) dat het zo is.

Zijn eigen advocaat heeft al aangegeven namelijk dat er daartoe jammerlijk aan toe gaat met zijn rechten. En ook een vriend die hem geregeld bezoekt uit Engeland.

http://www.powned.tv/nieu(...)naakt_in_de_cel.html

Volgens David House, een vriend van Manning die hem regelmatig opzoekt in de militaire basis in de staat Virginia waar hij vastzit, probeert de Amerikaanse regering een bekentenis los te peuteren ,,of een valse bekentenis, zodat ze hem in verband kunnen brengen met Julian Assange’’, aldus House tegen ITV News.

http://www.depers.nl/buit(...)ng-naakt-in-cel.html

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:39 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

NWS = BNW allemaal alu hoedjes op, ze komen je pakken.

hier mocht je ooit feiten willen leren, ipv media copy pasten die alleen vertalen.

http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:37 schreef vergezocht het volgende:

[..]

Dat weet je niet. Jij speculeert en (hoopt ?) dat het zo is.

Zijn eigen advocaat heeft al aangegeven namelijk dat er daartoe jammerlijk aan toe gaat met zijn rechten. En ook een vriend die hem geregeld bezoekt uit Engeland. En dat wil je in diskrediet brengen?

http://www.powned.tv/nieu(...)naakt_in_de_cel.html

Volgens David House, een vriend van Manning die hem regelmatig opzoekt in de militaire basis in de staat Virginia waar hij vastzit, probeert de Amerikaanse regering een bekentenis los te peuteren ,,of een valse bekentenis, zodat ze hem in verband kunnen brengen met Julian Assange’’, aldus House tegen ITV News.

http://www.depers.nl/buit(...)ng-naakt-in-cel.html

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:36 schreef WallOfStars het volgende:

[..]

Prove * WallOfStars is lying

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:41 schreef Opa2012 het volgende:

[..]

Als naakt slapen de nieuwe definitie van martelen is dan wordt er in Nederland heel wat afgemarteld.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:41 schreef Opa2012 het volgende:

[..]

Als naakt slapen de nieuwe definitie van martelen is dan wordt er in Nederland heel wat afgemarteld.
Martelkampen bestaan hier ook: nudistenkampen.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 20:01 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Er is ook nog een enigszins vergelijkbare situatie: Jose Padilla. Deze man is op een gegeven moment ook helemaal gek gemaakt (psychisch gemarteld) door de Amerikaanse overheid.

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 20:19 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Sterremuurtje heeft een vijand.

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201109/6905

quote:

Op zondag 6 maart 2011 19:46 schreef vergezocht het volgende:

[..]

Het is wel degelijk martelen. Een van de vormen daarvan. En wij beweren juist dat dat niet het enige is wat ze hem aandoen.

En volgens mij staat er geen enkele grondwet van een land toe dat dit mag worden uitgevoerd tegen een gedetineerde als straf. Dus wel degelijk in strijd met de wet.

En omdat dat in Nederland gebeurt, maakt het OK dat het in Amerika ook gebeurt? Serieus
Probeer eens goed te redeneren al is dat moeilijk.

quote:

http://www.volkskrant.nl/(...)eaks-verdachte.dhtml

WASHINGTON - J.P. Crowley is opgestapt als woordvoerder van het Amerikaanse ministerie van buitenlandse zaken vanwege zijn opmerkingen over de behandeling van de Amerikaanse militair die verdacht wordt van het doorspelen van geheime informatie aan Wikileaks.

'Belachelijk' en 'stom' noemde Crowley de wijze waarop de verdachte, Bradley Manning, wordt vastgehouden. President Barack Obama zei vrijdag nog dat het Pentagon hem had verzekerd dat Manning 'gepast' behandeld wordt.

Manning zit 23 uur per dag in eenzame opsluiting in een militair detentiecentrum. Iedere nacht moet hij zijn kleren inleveren en krijgt hij een dwangbuis om te voorkomen dat hij zelfmoord pleeft. Het licht in zijn cel gaat nooit uit.

Crowley liet zondag in een verklaring weten de verantwoordelijkheid te nemen voor zijn opmerkingen en zei dat hij zijn ontslag heeft ingediend bij minister van buitenlandse zaken Hillary Clinton.

quote:

Op zondag 13 maart 2011 21:28 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Op AJE: De verrader van Bradley Manning.

quote:

Op zondag 13 maart 2011 22:01 schreef Royyy het volgende:

[..]

Als je autoriteiten inlicht over een strafbaar feit ben je een verrader?

quote:

Op zondag 13 maart 2011 22:01 schreef Royyy het volgende:

[..]

Als je autoriteiten inlicht over een strafbaar feit ben je een verrader?

quote:

Op zondag 13 maart 2011 23:53 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Welk strafbaar feit?

Het openbaar maken van oorlogsmisdaden is nog nooit een strafbaar feit geweest.

En daarnaast, de overheid maakt het strafbaar, dezelfde overheid die niet wil dat de vuile was op straat ligt. Wat voor waarde heeft het strafbaar stellen dan nog?

quote:

Op maandag 14 maart 2011 00:27 schreef Royyy het volgende:

[..]

Hij is een militair in het Amerikaanse leger, en valt dus niet onder de 'normale' wetgeving maar onder de Uniform Code of Military Justice. En daar staat flink wat in over het openbaar maken van classified info. Misschien dat je dat eens moet gaan lezen voordat je hier beweert dat er geen strafbaar feit is gepleegd.
Als hij het niet met de UCMJ eens is had hij geen militair moeten worden, simple as that.

quote:

schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

Als de VS geen last had willen hebben van WikiLeaks, hadden ze geen geheimen moeten hebben,

quote:

Op zondag 13 maart 2011 19:58 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Woordvoerder Buitenlandse Zaken heeft kritiek op de onmenselijke behandeling van deze verdachte en wordt ontslagen. .

quote:

Bradley Manning's military doctors accused over treatment

A leading group of doctors in the US concerned with the ethical treatment of patients has questioned the role of military psychiatrists in Quantico, Virginia, where the suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning is being subjected to harsh treatment that some call torture.

The advocacy body Physicians for Human Rights has sounded the alarm over the role of psychiatrists at the brig in the marine base where Manning has been in custody since last July.

The group sees the psychiatrists as trapped in a situation of "dual loyalty", where their obligations to the military chain of command may conflict with their medical duty to protect their patient.

Christy Fujio, author of a forthcoming report on the issue, said the main concern was that psychiatrists were allowing Manning's continuing solitary confinement.

"Even if they do not officially approve it, by continuing to examine him and report back to the government on his condition, they are effectively taking part in security operations. Their failure to call it what it is, cruel and inhumane treatment, constitutes a violation of their ethical duties as doctors."

Manning has been charged with passing a mountain of digital US state secrets to WikiLeaks. He is under a prevention of injury order, or PoI, that requires him to be kept alone in a cell for 23 hours a day and to be checked every five minutes. Since earlier this month, he has also been stripped naked each night and made to parade in front of officers.

Manning himself says the conditions amount to pre-trial punishment provoked by a sarcastic remark he made to guards.

Last night, Manning's father, Brian, also denounced the way his son is being treated. He told the Frontline programme on US public television: "It's shocking enough that I would come out of our silence as a family and say, 'No, you've crossed a line. This is wrong.'" And he referred to the Guantánamo detention facility for terror suspects, saying: "They worry about people down in a base in Cuba, but here we have someone on our own soil under our own control, and they are treating him in this way".

Official records kept at the brig, released recently by Manning's lawyer, reveal that between last August and January military psychiatrists made no fewer than 16 recommendations to their military commanders that Manning should be taken off the PoI restrictions because he was no threat to himself.

Typical of the entries was that of 29 October 2010, which stated that Manning "was evaluated by the brig psychiatrist and found fit to be removed from prevention of injury classification from a psychiatric standpoint".

Only once in that five-month period did the psychiatrists conclude that the prisoner should be subjected to the restrictions. Despite the clear medical opinion given, brig commanders have repeatedly ignored the advice and retained the harsh regime. That is, Physicians for Human Rights says, an indication the US government is breaking its own clear rules.

The group's Susan McNamara, a doctor who works with victims of torture from other countries, said Manning's treatment appeared to be an extension of the interrogation tactics used against terror suspects in Guantánamo.

"That is a huge problem, as it is designed to break a person down psychologically. Solitary confinement is a form of sensory deprivation, and if you are depriving a person of the human contact they need that can amount to torture." She added: "In the US, if a patient was treated in a psychiatric hospital in the same way the military is treating Manning, the federal government would stamp all over it … [it] is disobeying its own rules."

The controversy has reached to the heart of the Obama administration. This week, state department spokesman PJ Crowley resigned, having called the confinement "ridiculous and stupid" and warned it could damage the global standing of the US. Obama himself was forced to defend the regime, saying he had been "assured" by the Pentagon it was in Manning's own interests. While the Quantico psychiatrists are given credit for having consistently argued that Manning should be removed from the current extreme regime, there are serious questions about whether they are doing enough to force change.

quote:

Dan Ellsberg Handcuffed at White House for Protesting Obama’s Torture of Bradley Manning

Eighty year-old Daniel Ellsberg was arrested on Saturday in front of the White House when he refused to leave at the request of police. He was one of 113 people who were arrested, handcuffed and taken to the police station on March 19, 2011 for protesting President Obama’s continued torture of Bradley Manning.

Manning is being held in pre-trial confinement at the Quantico brig. His psychological evaluation has been deliberately mis-categorized for 8 months now by two Quantico brig commanders, over the objections of three brig psychiatrists, in order to subject him to dehumanizing and humiliating conditions. The current Brig Commander Denise Barnes recently ordered that Manning be stripped naked each night “for his own good.”

President Obama has voiced his firm support for Barnes’ actions. At a recent press conference, he said he personally asked the Pentagon if the conditions of Manning’s confinement were appropriate. “They assure me that they are,” said the President. Obama echoed Barnes’ justification for stripping Manning naked each night when he said “some of this has to do with Private Manning’s safety.”

Obama also recently forced State Department spokesman PJ Crowley to resign after he said that Manning’s treatment was “ridiculous,” “counterproductive” and “stupid.”

Those who have objected to Manning’s conditions and have asked Obama to justify what he is doing include Amnesty International, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Jack Balkin of Yale Law School and 220 law professors, Michael Stipe, Viggo Mortensen, Danny Glover, Tom Morello, Shephard Fairey, Roseanne Cash and Welsh Labour MP Ann Clwyd.

The government has charged Manning with “aiding the enemy,” a capital crime that could carry the death penalty. Daniel Ellsberg was likewise accused by Richard Nixon of “aiding and abetting the enemy” when he leaked the Pentagon papers.

Ellsberg, a Marine veteran, was also arrested the next day at Quantico after Prince William Police reneged on an agreement that would have allowed him and four fellow veterans to lay a wreath at the Quantico Iwo Jima memorial.

80 Year-Old Daniel Ellsburg Handcuffed By Police Protesting Obama's Torture of Bradley Manning

quote:

Op zondag 13 maart 2011 23:53 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Welk strafbaar feit?

Het openbaar maken van oorlogsmisdaden is nog nooit een strafbaar feit geweest.

En daarnaast, de overheid maakt het strafbaar, dezelfde overheid die niet wil dat de vuile was op straat ligt. Wat voor waarde heeft het strafbaar stellen dan nog?

quote:

Bradley Manning's jail conditions improve dramatically after protest campaign

Switch of WikiLeaks whistleblower suspect from maximum security jail means more rights and liberties in runup to trial

The conditions under which the WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning is being detained in military prison have vastly improved in the wake of a sustained campaign against his earlier treatment, which some said amounted to torture.

Since Manning was transferred from the Quantico marine base in Virginia to Fort Leavenworth on 20 April his detention regime has changed dramatically.

He has been switched from maximum security to medium custody, which affords him many more rights and liberties, and he is no longer being held under a prevention of injury watch that imposed harsh conditions.

The new regime has been revealed in a blog post from Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, who is handling the US soldier's forthcoming court martial.

The prisoner, who worked as an army intelligence specialist in Iraq, has been charged with multiple counts relating to the leaking of a huge trove of state secrets to the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

Under the old prevention order, Manning was forced to strip naked and wear just a smock at night, he had no bedding and was not permitted any personal items in his cell. He was kept locked up in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day in a windowless cell, and allowed only to walk in a yard on his own for that final hour.

In Fort Leavenworth, by contrast, he has a large window that lets in natural light. He has a normal mattress and bedding and his clothes are not removed at night.

Manning can have personal objects in his cell, including books and letters from family and friends, as well as legal documents relating to his case. He can write whenever he wants.

His new life of detention is also considerably less lonely. There are five other pretrial prisoners and Manning spends much of the day in their company. His cell is connected to a common area used by four of the detainees with a television and exercise machine, table and shower area.

The improvement in Manning's prison life is testament to the power of a sustained campaign by his supporters and politicians to end what was deemed virtual torture against him.

The Pentagon had been flooded with emails and lobbied by representatives such as Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic congressman from Ohio who took up Manning's cause.

The UK embassy in Washington has also been involved after the Guardian revealed that Manning is a British citizen by dint of his mother being Welsh.

Kucinich said the lawyer's account of Manning's new conditions revealed a dramatic change "that can only be attributed to the public campaign that brought great pressure on the department of defence".

But Manning's more relaxed treatment also raises serious questions about why he was treated so brutally for the nine months in which he was held at Quantico. When Barack Obama was asked about the case in March, he said he had been assured by the Pentagon that Manning's treatment was appropriate.

Kucinich said he would continue to press through Congress for answers to a number of questions: "Why was Manning treated the way he was in Quantico that was similar to torture? Who was responsible for that treatment, and what's going to be done to ensure those individuals are held to account?"

quote:

Op woensdag 4 mei 2011 23:05 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

quote:

Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 03:16 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Nu nog vrijspraak

quote:

Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 03:16 schreef Refragmental het volgende:


Mooi om te lezen dat hij niet meer als vuil wordt behandeld.
Nu nog vrijspraak en het opsluiten van iedereen die heeft meegewerkt aan zijn marteling.

quote:

Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 10:00 schreef Tijger_m het volgende:

[..]

Vrijspraak?

Hij mag blij zijn als de straf minder dan 20 jaar is.

quote:

Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 12:42 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

[..]

Gezien hoe hij de afgelopen 9 maanden gemarteld is geworden heeft hij zijn straf wel al gehad denk je niet?

En zoals ik al eerder heb gezegd, Manning is juist de enige die het goede heeft gedaan, de misdaden van zijn land blootleggen. Dat verdient geen straf maar juist een huldiging.

quote:

Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 12:42 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

Gezien hoe hij de afgelopen 9 maanden gemarteld is geworden heeft hij zijn straf wel al gehad denk je niet?

En zoals ik al eerder heb gezegd, Manning is juist de enige die het goede heeft gedaan, de misdaden van zijn land blootleggen. Dat verdient geen straf maar juist een huldiging.

quote:

Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 14:02 schreef Tijger_m het volgende:

[..]

Wat jij meent is totaal irrelevant, Manning heeft zijn eed geschonden en een zwaar misdrijf begaan onder de UCMJ en zal daarvoor veroordeeld worden indien hij schuldig wordt bevonden. Ik zie dat als terecht overigens en ik zie de maximum security waaronder hij werd vastgehouden ook niet als marteling, maar goed, dat terzijde.
Verder is de kwalificatie van misdaden van zijn land blootleggen nogal overdreven m.i.

quote:

Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 16:51 schreef Refragmental het volgende:

Jij ziet dat niet als marteling?
Dat zegt heel erg veel over jou, en dat is niet positief.

quote:

Bradley Manning's conversations with Adrian Lamo published in full


Wired magazine publishes chat logs between WikiLeaks suspect and hacker who reported to him to authorities

Internet conversations between Bradley Manning, the US soldier awaiting court martial on suspicion of being the WikiLeaks source, and Adrian Lamo, who reported him to the authorities, have been published in their entirety for the first time.

The decision by Wired magazine to publish the full unedited version of what have become known as the Manning-Lamo chat logs brings to a close a bitter dispute between bloggers over the nature of the material. Wired always claimed that it had held back a large portion of the chats because they were irrelevant and in order to protect Manning's privacy on personal matters.

But critics, notably Glenn Greenwald of Salon, wondered whether any material pertinent to Manning's defence may have been held back for more sinister reasons.

In explaining its decision to now go ahead with the full logs, Wired pointed to new material that had come to light recently that revealed much of the information that the magazine had previously withheld. It pointed particularly to a separate set of web logs, obtained by New York magazine and published simultaneously by the Guardian.

The newly published Wired logs will be studied closely by followers of the Manning story – supporters and detractors – for extra evidence about his conduct while working as a US intelligence gatherer at a military base outside Baghdad.

The soldier has been charged with passing classified information to WikiLeaks as the source of the giant trove of state secrets, the largest of which were the embassy cables from US diplomatic outposts around the world.

An early view of the logs suggests that Wired's defence stands up – much of the new material relates to Manning's sexuality and other personal matters.

As a result of turning Manning into the military authorities, Lamo has become known as the "world's most hated hacker". New York magazine tracked him down to a Long Island motel, where he appeared to be living largely in isolation.

quote:

Op donderdag 14 juli 2011 22:51 schreef Monidique het volgende:
http://www.salon.com/news(...)/14/wired/index.html

Wired en die journalist en hacker hebben gelogen en Manning bedrogen en verraden. Weerzinwekkend.

quote:

Op donderdag 14 juli 2011 23:37 schreef Royyy het volgende:

[..]

Goh een verrader die wordt verraden.. passend toch?

quote:

Op vrijdag 15 juli 2011 07:58 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Hij is geen verrader, wat mij betreft is hij een held. En nee, het is niet passend, het is onethisch van Wired en die gestoorde hacker.

quote:

Op vrijdag 15 juli 2011 11:06 schreef Royyy het volgende:

[..]

Jij VINDT dat hij geen verrader is...
Hij is een Amerikaanse militair, dus geldt voor hem de Uniform Code of Military Justice. En wat hij heeft uitgevoerd valt onder de definitie van Treason die daarin staat.

quote:

Op zaterdag 16 juli 2011 12:04 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Nee. Dit is geen verraad, ook niet volgens die code, want dat houdt in dat er bewust en opzettelijk informatie aan de vijand is gegeven. Dat is hier niet het geval.

quote:

Bradley Manning: In his own words

^{Posted on February 19, 2012 by wiseupforbm}

“one of the more significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century asymmetrical warfare.”

Due to sensationalised media reports, a lot of people are quite unaware of any evidence there is that Bradley acted out of conscience. I thought it would be useful, therefore, to extract from the chat logs all that relates to Bradley’s apparent motivation.

Directing people to the published chat logs themselves means they have an awful lot of text to plough through, and it requires some commitment, so this is a resource that only contains thoughts on the leaks themselves.

When I was going through it, it really struck me that it had a sense of soliloquy about it, and that it reads like a prose poem – I felt that it built a picture of the ‘together’ person behind the selective snap shots we’ve had from mainstream media. It’s a chance to let Bradley himself be heard, I hope.

Lindi

Read the edited chat logs: Bradley Manning: In his own words

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and its important that it gets out i feel, for some bizarre reason

it might actually change something

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Blocking WikiLeaks emails trips up Bradley Manning prosecution

The federal government's vigilance at preventing anything relating to WikiLeaks from appearing on a government computer has tripped up military prosecutors, causing them to miss important emails from the judge and defense involved in the case against an Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and military reports to the web-based transparency organization.

At a hearing last month, prosecutors in the case against Pfc. Bradley Manning noted that they didn't receive the messages but could not explain why. Chief prosecutor Capt. Ashden Fein said at a hearing Thursday that the messages had been "blocked by a spam filter for security." However, it fell to defense attorney David Coombs to explain precisely why the e-mails about evidence issues in the Manning case never made it.

"Apparently, they were blocked because the word 'WikiLeaks' was somewhere in the e-mail," Coombs said.

Fein said there is now a procedure in place to check the spam filter on a daily basis for errant e-mails. In addition, military Judge Col. Denise Lind said prosecutors had set up an alternate e-mail account that shouldn't encounter the same problem.

At the hearing Thursday at Fort Meade, Md., Lind rejected two defense motions, one seeking a bill of particulars with more detail about the charges and another seeking to use arguments that prosecutors would not have access to in order to bolster the defense's demands to produce additional evidence before trial.

However, much of the information the defense sought emerged at the hearing. For instance, the prosecution indicated that the "enemy" in the most serious charge Manning faces—aiding the enemy—is Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula. That came as no great surprise based on earlier disclosures in the case. However, some had speculated that the U.S. Government had deemed WikiLeaks itself to be an enemy of the U.S.

In addition, prosecutors appeared to indicate that they did not plan to argue that Manning broke into government computers, but simply that he used his assigned password to initiate computer sessions during which he downloaded information he planned to send to WikiLeaks.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misstated Coombs's first name.

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Op zaterdag 17 maart 2012 22:54 schreef Panzermaus het volgende:
Echt weerzinwekkend dit soort praktijken (zijn behandeling), valt niet goed te praten.

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Op zaterdag 17 maart 2012 22:59 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:

[..]

Hij wist waar hij aan begon. Hij overtrad de wet en moet daar nu voor betalen.

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Op zaterdag 17 maart 2012 23:57 schreef Schanulleke het volgende:

[..]

Als dat in een eerlijk proces gebeurde zou er wat voor je standpunt te zeggen zijn.

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Bradley Manning: how keeping himself sane was taken as proof of madness

WikiLeaks suspect's attempts to exercise and stay occupied in bare cell only perpetuated harsh anti-suicide measures

Shortly before Bradley Manning was arrested in Iraq under suspicion of being the source of the vast transfer of US state secrets to WikiLeaks, he is alleged to have entered into a web chat with the hacker Adrian Lamo using the handle bradass87. "I'm honestly scared," the anonymous individual wrote. "I have no one I trust, I need a lot of help."

That cry for assistance was a gross under-estimation of the trouble that was about to befall Manning, judging from his testimony on Thursday. In his first publicly spoken words since his arrest in May 2010, delivered at a pre-trial hearing at Fort Meade in Maryland, the soldier painted a picture of a Kafkaesque world into which he was sucked and in which he would languish for almost one excruciating year.

Over more than six hours of intense questioning by his defence lawyer, David Coombs, Manning, 24, set out for the court what he described as the darkness and absurdity of his first year in captivity. The more he protested the harsh conditions under which he was being held, the more that was taken as evidence that he was a suicide risk, leading to yet more tightening of the restrictions imposed upon him.

He related how he turned for help to one particular member of staff at the brig at Quantico marine base in Virginia where he was taken in July 2010. He assumed that Staff Sergeant Pataki was on his side, so opened up to him.

"I wanted to convey the fact that I'd been on the [restrictive regime] for a long time. I'm not doing anything to harm myself. I'm not throwing myself against walls, or jumping up or down, or putting my head in the toilet."

Manning told Pataki that "if I was a danger to myself I would act out more". He used his underwear and flip-flops as an example, insisting that "if I really wanted to hurt myself I could use things now: underwear, flip-flops, they could potentially be used as something to harm oneself".

The conversation took place in March 2011, some eight months into his stay at Quantico where he had been held in the most extreme conditions. He was under constant observation, made to go to the toilet in full view of the guards, had all possessions removed from his cell, spent at times only 20 minutes outside his cell and even then was always chained in hand and leg irons.

Manning felt good about his interaction with Pataki. "I felt like he was listening and understanding, and he smiled a little. I thought I'd actually started to get through to him."

That night guards arrived at his cell and ordered him to strip naked. He was left without any clothes overnight, and the following morning made to stand outside his cell and stand to attention at the brig count, still nude, as officers inspected him.

The humiliating ritual continued for several days, and right until the day he was transferred from Quantico on 20 April 2011 he had his underwear removed every night. The brig authorities later stated that in their view the exceptional depriving of an inmate's underpants was a necessary precaution, in the light of his ominous comments about using his underwear and flip-flops to harm himself.

If the marine commanders were guided in their treatment of Manning, as they said they were, by fears that he was suicidal, that assessment would certainly have been merited at the beginning of his captivity. Manning began his epic testimony by describing how he had a virtual mental breakdown soon after he was taken to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait following his initial arrest.

He was clearly terrified by the uncertainty in which he suddenly found himself. He had, by his own admission, recently committed a massive dump of government information from secure military computers to the website WikiLeaks, and now he was in the hands of army jailers with no knowledge about what was going to happen to him.

"I didn't know what was going on, I didn't have formal charges or anything, my interactions were very limited with anybody else, so it was very draining."

He was put on a schedule whereby he would be woken up at 10 o'clock at night and given lights out at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. "My nights blended into my days and my days into nights," he told the court.

The isolation also got to him. "I'm generally a pretty socially extrovert person, but being for long periods of time by myself I was in a pretty stressed situation. I began to really deteriorate. I was anxious all the time, everything became more insular."

The guards stopped taking him out of his cell so that he became entirely cut off from human company. "Someone tried to explain to me why, but I was a mess, I was starting to fall apart."

Military police began coming into his cell in a tent in the Kuwaiti desert two or three times a day doing what they called a "shakedown": searching the cell and tearing it apart in the process.

Then the breakdown happened. He was found to have made a noose out of bedsheets, though he told the court he doesn't recall that now. He was found one day screaming, babbling and banging his head against his tent cell.

"My world just shrank to Camp Arifjan and then my cage. I remember thinking: I'm going to die. I'm stuck here and I'm going to die in animal cage."

He remembers telling the camp psychiatrist in Kuwait that he had contemplated suicide. "I didn't want to die but I wanted to get out of the cage. I conveyed to him that if I could be successful in committing suicide, I would."

When he was asked to fill out a form by the camp guards, he answered a question on whether he had any suicidal thoughts with the comment: "Forever planning, never acting."

Amid such alarming signals of potential self-harm, he was put on anti-depression and anti-anxiety drugs and put on suicide watch. By the time he was moved from Kuwait to Quantico on 29 July, he told the court, he was already feeling substantially better and well on the way to recovery.

It is one of the great ironies of his story that when he arrived at Quantico he was at first delighted. "It wasn't the ideal environment in Quantico," Manning said to chuckles around the court. "But it had air conditioning, solid floors, hot and cold running water. It was great to be on continental United States soil again."

His buoyant spirits soon received a knock, he went on. He was submitted to what he called a "shark attack" by the reception officers at Quantico. Though he was an army soldier, he had been transferred to a marine base, part of the navy, and he didn't understand any of their routines or vocabulary.

"They were trying to show you they were in charge. 'Face the bulkhead!' they ordered, but I didn't know what a bulkhead was. Everything I did was wrong because I didn't know."

Given his behaviour in Kuwait, Manning was put on suicide watch when he arrived at Quantico. He was under permanent observation from guards who sat in a booth right outside his cell, most of his possessions were removed, he was made to sleep on a pillowless suicide mattress with only a suicide blanket – one that could not be used to cause self-harm – to lie under at night.

In a theatrical move, Coombs had placed white tape on the floor of the court room in exactly the dimensions of Manning's cell throughout the nine months he stayed in Quantico – 6ft by 8ft (180cm by 240cm). The cell contained a toilet that was in the line of vision of the observation booth, and he was not allowed toilet paper. When he needed it, he told the court, he would stand to attention by the front bars of the cell and shout out to the observation guards: "Lance Corporal Detainee Manning requests toilet paper!"

As Manning walked around the diminutive virtual space of the cell, the thought occurred that in this regard at least he was lucky to be so small. At 5ft 2in (157cm) he was towered over by Coombs as they circled each other in the courtroom.

Manning related how he tried to keep healthy and sane within the tiny confines. For the first few weeks of his confinement in Quantico he was allowed only 20 minutes outside the cell, known as a "sunshine call". Even then whenever he left his cell – and this remained the case throughout his nine months at the marine brig – he was put into full restraint: his hands were handcuffed to a leather belt around his waist and his legs put in irons, which meant that he could not walk without a staff member holding him.

"I'm not a great fan of winter, it's the solstice and it's dark," Manning said at one point. "I'm a fan of sunshine." So it was particularly hard for him that there was no natural light in his cell.

"If you took your head and put it on the cell door and looked through the crack, you could see down the hall the reflection of the window," Manning told the court, adding that "there was a skylight. You could see the reflection of the reflection of it if you angled your face on the door of the cell."

At night the light situation was even worse. Because he was considered a possible risk of self-harm throughout his time at Quantico, he was under observation throughout the night, with a flourescent light located right outside the cell blazing into his eyes. While asleep he would frequently cover his eyes with his suicide blanket, or turn on to his side away from the light, and on those occasions, sometimes three times a night, the guards would bang on his cell bars to wake him up so they could see his face.

He sought solace wherever he could find it. Occasionally he was allowed to read a book his family had sent him. "I read a lot of philosophy, a lot of history. I'm more of a non-fiction reader though I like realistic fiction like John Grisham. Richard Dawkins would be an interesting author."

He was forbidden from taking exercise in his cell, and given that he was allowed out of the cell for at most one hour a day for the entire nine months at Quantico, he started to be creative about finding a way around the prohibition. "I would practise various dance moves. Dancing wasn't unauthorised as exercise."

He would also practise what he called resistance training – pretending to be lifting weights in his cell when he had no weights. "I would pace around, walk around, shuffling, any type of movement. I was trying to move around as much as I could."

As a man who from a young age has been noted for his bright intelligence, and who until his arrest was passionate about interactive computer technology and computer games, Manning also found an unconventional way to keep his mind sharp in the cell. He would make faces at himself in the mirror, the one bit of furniture in the cell other than his bed, sink and toilet.

"The most entertaining thing in there was the mirror. You can interact with yourself. I spent a lot of time with that mirror," he told the court, provoking laughter.

Why did he do all those things, Coombs asked him.

"Boredom. Just sheer out-of-my-mind boredom."

But that is where the problems for Manning started. He was trying to keep himself sane in unthinkably isolated and segregated conditions. But his military captors chose to interpret such behaviour as quite the opposite – a sign that he was still suicidal.

The truth was very much otherwise. Three Quantico forensic psychiatrists gave evidence to the court earlier this week and they agreed that within days of arriving at the marine base Manning had recovered his mental health and was no longer a risk to himself. They consistently recommended that the soldier be put on a much looser regime.

But the authorities would not listen. All they would do was to lower his status from "suicide risk" to "prevention of injury order" or PoI – a theoretically more relaxed set of rules that in practice was in almost all regards just as restrictive as its predecessor.

Other military expert witnesses this week compared the PoI regime Manning was held under unfavourably to Guantánamo and death row, saying that it was more stressful on the inmate than either. Yet the Quantico authorities cited precisely those activities that Manning had used to keep his hopes alive to argue for him remaining on the PoI order. They referred to the fact that he danced in his cell, did fantasy weightlifting and made strange faces in the mirror. They even referred to the fact that he played peek-a-boo with the guards as a sign that he was at serious risk of suicide.

They also continuously referred back to that comment he'd made in Kuwait – "Always planning, never acting" – even though that had been almost a year earlier.

Before he left Quantico Manning made one final attempt to persuade the brig commander, Chief Warrant Officer Barnes, that he was perfectly well and was no danger to himself. "I told her that the conditions I was under struck me as absurd. I tried to tell her that's how I saw it – the absurdity of it."

Once more his attempt to act reasonably and rationally was interpreted as the opposite. Barnes grew angry, Manning testified, and said he was being disrespectful of a superior rank.

She warned Manning to be careful in future about what he said, as it might hurt him. "I took that as a threat," he told the court. "I realised at that point that to say any more would be a dangerous mistake."